Tarnished
by Ygritte the Huntress
Summary: A tragedy brings out the Cassidine in Nik, and brings Liz to his doorstep.
1. Chapter 1

All characters owned by ABC Daytime

At the moment this is just the tease for a Niz/Lik story. Feedback is appreciated.

* * *

"Daddy look!!!!" Jake Spencer ran headlong down the steps on the docks. He and his Daddy had been walking down to the launch for Spoon Island when he saw a sail boat in the distance. So, instead of turning off onto the correct pier, the little boy ran down to one of the piers closer to the boat.

He moved up so that the very tips of his toes met the end of planks and stuck his head out just slightly. He liked boats and Uncle Nik brought him out to look at them sometimes when he played with Spence. The rules were that you aren't allowed to get any further out than he was now. Daddy taught him to swim, but Uncle Nik said that there are things in the water that can pull you under.

He heard people in the alley, but he didn't pay them any attention. They probably had cars in the alley, but boats were way cooler. Daddy called his name so he turned around and started toward him. His hand was just slipping into his daddy's when a loud pop came from daddy's other side. Jake screamed as Daddy fell.

Daddy had a real bad booboo on his back. He was bleeding a lot and breathing funny. Jake kept screaming as he looked up and saw a man with a gun. Daddy had a gun cause he was a police man, but Jake had never been allowed to touch it. He recognized the man. He was mommy's sad friend. He always seemed sad when Jake saw him, like someone took his toys, or he wasn't allowed to play with his friends. Jake was scared. Mommy said that only bad guys and police men used guns. He knew that Mommy's friend wasn't a police man, he didn't have a badge, and he told him that he wasn't when he asked him once. Jake started to panic. His breaths were coming to fast. Daddy wasn't getting up. Mr. Morgan, that was his name, was still standing there with his gun. Jake started to cry.

"Daddy!"

"Daddy, get up!"

"JAKE!!" Came a yell from far away. It was Uncle Nik.

"Uncle Nik! Help!"

Mr. Morgan flinched and moved the hand with the gun. Now it was pointed closer to Jake. Jake screamed again. He heard Uncle Nik's running steps coming closer. "Daddy's hurt Uncle Nik! Hurry!"

When Jake looked up again Mr. Morgan was gone and Uncle Nik was running down the steps. Then he was on the ground with Jake and his Daddy and he was calling 911. The next thing Jake knew Uncle Nik was holding him and he was crying too. Crying was for girls, but from the moment his daddy fell, Jake never stopped.


	2. Chapter 2

Ok, I don't think this came out as well as the first part did. I think it's because I told it entirely from Liz's side, so what the hell is going on in Jason's pea brain isn't shown. I don't know. I like a lot of the content and I think I get across what I need to.

Anyway, here you go.

**Tarnished: Part 2**  


* * *

Liz could only call what she had been in a state of shocked numbness. She went to work, she cared for her children, she ate and she slept. That was pretty much the shape of her world for the last month. All she could tell anyone was that she lost her best friend on earth for the third time. Lucky, then Emily, now Lucky all over again.

Mourning Lucky was different this time. She knew how strange it was to be able to compare a man's two deaths and the impact they had on her life. It wasn't the same intense feeling of alone as before. It was a colder feeling. Like bits and pieces of her world were breaking off and floating away. And the boys? The looks on their faces just magnified it. Cam was a mess and Jake was…

Jake was so sad and terrified that just thinking about him made her cry. The police, mostly Mac, had tried to talk to him, to see if he knew who had killed Lucky, but he couldn't answer. All he would say to them was "the bad guy had a gun." Anything else was just nonsense about sail boats. Kevin Collins was seeing him, but even he couldn't penetrate whatever shield Jake had put up in his mind. And then there were nightmares. Screaming, horrifying nightmares that he couldn't shake. Not that she blamed him. How could a 4 year old really deal with watching their father die?

She scrubbed her hands over her face and tried to get herself together. Lulu had taken the boys to the park and they would be back soon. She couldn't let them see her like this. Things were hard enough.

The absolutely only good thing to happen since Lucky died was that the family pulled together because of it. Ethan and Nik were nice to each other, Luke came around more, Lulu spent more one on one time with the kids. Hell, Rebecca and Nikolas were in the same room for hours and not a single insult had been hurled. That was a minor miracle right there. If Lucky hadn't encouraged the kids to spend time with "Aunt Becca" she would be just as happy to never see the woman again. She still couldn't figure out how Ethan marrying her had brought the brothers closer together. It didn't really track to Liz, but hey, at least they were a real family, unlike the scattered remains of hers.

She was puttering around the living room, trying to tidy a few things while expending the least amount of effort she could get away with, when the doorbell rang. She ran her eyes around to make sure the place wasn't too much of a wreck and straightened her clothes as she moved to answer it.

"Jason." She said when she saw him on the other side of the door. She was sort of impressed by how neutral it came out. His name mostly came out with a trace of annoyance these days. Especially since he went and married Sam "baby terrorist" McCall last year.

He stepped forward into the doorway, invading her space, forcing her to back away and leaving him an opening to come in.

Asshole.

"What do you want Jason? I'm busy and I am not in a good place today." She let a sliver of her irritation shine through, to let him know she was serious.

"I want to see Jake."

Liz sat on the arm of the big overstuffed chair across from where Jason was standing. "I… I don't think that's a good idea. Jake isn't really ready to be around strangers. I don't think a random meeting would really work right now." She strained to hold in her emotions. She did not want this man, who she had truly loved once, to see how ragged she really was. She didn't trust him with that anymore.

"Not just today. I want-" Jason rubbed his hand across his chin and took a long pause. Liz could practically see the wheels spinning in his head. Whatever he wanted to say, he was choosing his words carefully. "I want to see Jake on a regular basis. Scheduled visitation."

Liz scoffed at him. "And how would that work? 'Hey Jake, I know you are traumatized right now because your father was murdered in front of you, but here is a stranger to spend time with every week' And let's not forget that just being in the same building as you puts his life at risk." She shook her head. "No, I'm not doing that to him. Do you know what Jake calls you? To him you are Mr. Morgan, if he's trying to be polite. When he thinks that no adults are paying attention he calls you 'Mommy's sad friend'. His only impression of you is that you are sad every time he sees you. It makes him uncomfortable. And Lucky just died! In front of him!"

She paused and shook her head again, not registering the way he flinched when she brought up Lucky. "I don't get where this is coming from. We agreed YEARS ago that you having any part of Jake's life was way too dangerous. I know that Alexis lets her daughters hang around with you and at your penthouse, and it may seem like things are calm now and nobody has been shot at or killed in a couple years. And I know how hard it is for you to keep your distance. But there is no way in hell I'm risking the life of my baby just so he can hang out with 'Mommy's sad friend'. No."

Through all of this she tried not to get angry. She DID understand what Jason had given up. And she could see how it had to be hard for him, but it was ultimately his decision to hand her a check and the deed to her house and walk away. She had been understanding over the years. She let him hold Jake when they ran into each other. She even used to send him pictures through Lulu. Yes, contact had tapered down over the last couple of years, but that was mostly because of Sam. She didn't want that woman even thinking about her sons, much less interacting with them.

His eyes softened into a more pleading look and dread started to coil in the pit of her stomach. "Elizabeth, I want Jake to know the truth."

She knew what he was saying, but she couldn't accept it. She deflected slightly.

"He's a little boy. You can't expect him to be able to keep a secret like that. And, I really don't think that you get just how ripped up Jake is about Lucky."

"I don't want it to be a secret anymore."

Liz let all of her emotions rise to the surface now. She had been calm and kind, but now she was done.

"No. If that's all you wanted; I have things to do." She skirted around him and opened the front door.

Jason just turned. "I'm not asking permission. I'm going to tell Monica and Michael and all the kids about Jake. I don't want to have to take this to court. I want to be there for him. I want to try to help him through what happened to Lucky. I want him to know that I love him. I want –"

"Funny," Liz cut him off and slammed the door as she got into Jason's personal space. "I don't think you ever acted like this much of a selfish ass while we were together. I wonder what's different." She shoved past him and returned to tidying the room, although with quite a lot more angry energy than before. God, just looking at this place made her want to puke right now. She decided right then and there to sell it. It would be 100% profit for her. Or maybe she would burn it to the ground and start fresh.

She folded an afghan and laid it over the back of the couch before she faced Jason again. "Fine. Tell whoever you want." She saw the joy flit across his face and really enjoyed crushing it. "But you are never, ever, getting near my son again. You know better than I do what the laws of this state have to say about contesting paternity. You are more than 2 years too late to even try. As far as what Jake knows and needs? None of your business ever again. When he gets past his father's death a bit, I'll explain why his dad was the best dad in the world, because he didn't care if Jake had his DNA or not. I'll tell him how his dad protected him from the criminals and thugs that would hurt him to get to another criminal. I'll even, one day, tell him how much money he was worth. Thanks for the warning. Get out."

He didn't move. Instead he went to speak again, but Liz cut him off before he made a sound. "You know what, never mind. You bought the house, stay as long as you like."

With that she grabbed her keys, her purse and her cell phone and left. She didn't even close the door behind her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Part 3**

* * *

Less than an hour later Liz entered Nik's living room with her children. Jake ran right to his uncle and threw himself in his arms.

"Hello" Nik said with a slight laugh. Even though he understood the sad reason that Jake tended to cling to him, it still made him smile that his nephew was so happy to see him. "What brings you all here this afternoon?"

Liz sighed as she sat down on the couch. "We need a place to stay."

Nik frowned. "What? Why?"

Liz looked at the boys meaningfully and Nik nodded. He grabbed the phone on the desk and dialed an internal extension. "Kara. Can you and Spence come down and get Cam and Jake? Thanks." He was unerringly polite and friendly, but he didn't stop for a reply. It was her job to do his bidding after all. He was the prince.

A few minutes later the kids were all upstairs playing and Nik again asked what was wrong. Liz explained her conversation with Jason as concisely as possible.

"I don't understand why he's doing this now? Couldn't he wait until Lucky was cold in the ground?"

For the first time that day she allowed herself to cry. She felt safe breaking down with Nik. He was her rock, as she was for him. The last remaining Musketeers relied on each other. When their pain and grief became too much, they turned to each other. Now she was turning to him to protect her sons. He held her close, even after her tears had dried.

"Of course you can stay here. In fact, if you hadn't asked, I'd insist. Jason is basically placing a target on Jake's back, and you and Cam aren't really any safer. At least here we can mostly control who comes and goes."

Liz nodded, pulling herself closer to him as she did. That was why it was her first instinct to come here. If she just wanted away from that house she could have stayed at the Spencer house with Lulu, with her brother at her Gram's old house or, god forbid, at the Quartermaines' with the other Spencers. That would only put them at risk though, and she didn't want that. Nik was, unfortunately, very used to protecting a child from criminals and loonies. Anthony Zachara was who she was most afraid of, even if he was in prison, and he ranked right up there with Helena on the freak meter.

"Am I overreacting?" She muttered into his shirt. She knew she probably wasn't, but she needed to hear it from someone else. Someone who would be slightly more objective than she could be.

"No, you are not. This is the best place for the kids to be. They have plenty of places to play and explore without leaving the island. They won't even feel confined here." He hesitated. "That is, if that's what you want. I just think it will be safer, and you don't need to pay for daycare when you work since I have a nanny already here."

"No, you're right." She pulled away and felt somehow emptier doing it. "Mostly, anyway. Jake can stay with Spence while I work, but Cameron needs to go to school. I know you could get him a tutor, but I think it would be better to at least keep that normal." After a pause she added. "For now at least."

Nic nodded and leaned back into the couch. Liz relaxed into him and rested her head on his shoulder. Ten minutes later they were asleep.

* * *

You would think that a big old castle like Wyndemere would be nearly sound proof. Voices shouldn't carry through stone, thick carpets and tapestries. Unfortunately the bedrooms on the second floor weren't as well insulated as you'd expect.

A scream echoed down the hall where the family quarters were located in the castle. Four doors opened within seconds of each other. Two adults ran down the hall while two little heads just peaked out in curiosity. Cam was pretty sure he knew what was going on, but he wanted to check anyway. Spence was just confused. Elizabeth expected this so she stopped in the hall where the doors sat opposite each other and smiled reassuringly at both of them.

"It's ok; Jake is just having another nightmare. Cam, why don't you go in Spencer's room and you boys can camp out on the floor?"

Cam nodded and went to grab a blanket and pillow. Liz made sure the boys were settled before she went further down the hall to where Nikolas was comforting Jake.

She stood back in the doorway and watched them for a moment. This was the first time anyone but her had been there to help Jake through his nightmares. She could never get him to talk about them, but with Nik, tonight, he wouldn't shut up. Maybe it was that Nik had been the one to find him that day, or maybe it was that her own grief and worry shone through when she held him close. Either way, this was good for him, and she didn't want to interfere.

"Shhh, It's ok Jake. I've got you." Nikolas was saying as he held Jake and rocked him like a baby.

"He's a bad guy, Uncle Nik. Daddy said that only police men and bad guys have guns. But he told me that he wasn't a police man."

"You talked to him?" Nik asked, bile rising in his stomach. He had assumed that it had been quick. The idea that the encounter had been longer than just a minute…

"No," Jake said, calmer now. "before. I asked him once if he was a police man and he said no."

Nik's head whipped around to see Liz's face. This was obviously news to her as well. He didn't want to push Jake, but maybe talking about it would help him. " Where did you see the bad guy before?"

"He's mommy's friend. Why is mommy friends with a bad guy?"

Nik again looked over to Elizabeth. She has a pained look on her face and tears welling. It was incredible how beautiful she looked when she was so sad. And, ok, that was weird, moving on.

"Maybe she doesn't know he's a bad guy. You should tell her, so she doesn't get hurt." Jake mulled it over a bit before slowly nodding. Liz picked up the hint, dried her eyes and came in the room.

"Hey kiddo. What's got you up so late?" She tried to be casual and calm, but her hands were shaking. Nik reached out and held her hand in his. She felt better almost instantly.

Jake was quiet for just a second. His mommy was always there to make him feel better. She always knew what to say, but he didn't want to make her sad anymore. He always heard her cry after he woke up with nightmares. But Uncle Nik was right. Bad guys hurt people and Mommy's friend was a bad guy. Daddy was gone now and he didn't want Mommy to go away too.

"Mommy, you can't play with Mr. Morgan anymore. He's not a nice boy." That's what Mommy had said to him when Tommy Glen had hurt Jamie Dawson's puppy. It was ok though, because he didn't really like Tommy anyway.

Nik's grip on Liz's hand tightened and she choked out. "Ok, Jake, I won't. Do you wanna camp out in Spence's room with him and Cam?"

Jake didn't bother to answer, he just grabbed his pillow and blanked and scurried out of the room and down the hall. A short burst of giggling followed and then they quieted down and went to sleep.

As soon as it seemed like the kids were asleep Liz began sobbing hysterically. Muffling her criew with her hands as she paced Jake's room. Nik pulled her close to him and hurried her down the hall to the master suite. It was the furthest room down the hall in the wing of the house where all the family bedrooms and Spencer's playroom were located.

He had moved Spencer from right next to him to at the far end of the hall when his rages had first developed a few years earlier. He had been grateful for that when Emily's death had furthered his downward spiral. He was grateful again now. None of the children needed to hear or see the state Elizabeth was in, or the one he was working himself into.

The moment they closed the door behind them, Elizabeth broke down screaming. This was worse than even her darkest nightmares had predicted. When she was pregnant with Jake, before she told Jason the truth, she had endured so many nightmares about how bad things could get. Nightmares about being blown up like Lilly, being shot by a man who was supposed to love her like Carly, her children being kidnapped by insane enemies the was Morgan, Michael and Kristina had been. This was worse than anything she had imagined.

Lucky being a cop had risks. She had accepted long ago that he could be killed in the line of duty. That was the price of being the hero. Being the one that put the criminals away and protected the innocent. There was also the threat that Helena would one day decide to get to Luke through his children. Of course she was in as much danger away from Lucky as she was with him, and her children were also fair game to the sick old woman. She had done her fair share to piss her off over the years. These were things that she had tried to be prepared for over the years. There were never any guarantees. Life was risk, and there were always people who would harm others for their own sick reasons.

But Lucky didn't court those risks for the most part. Yes, being a cop was a choice, but it was a brave, honest, legal choice. He didn't murder people knowing that it could bring hell down upon him at any time. He didn't invite the danger home with him.

Liz's nightmares hadn't been confined to the "how will Jason destroy my child" line of reasoning. She had been equally terrified of Lucky's addiction and his rage. It was something that no mother could ignore.

All things being laid out on the table, and her actual feelings for the two men being confused and off balance… She chose the man that was taking steps to overcome his darkness. The one who was trying to change, for her. Was she wrong? She didn't really know. It was something that she questioned constantly over the last 5 years. From the moment she asked Jason to give up his son. She had hurt everyone with that decision. Right now though, she only wished she had never told him.

Could Jason have changed his world for Jake? Would he have been willing to at least try? Nothing he had done had pointed to that really. He made promises, but he took them back just as quickly. He was who he was, and he wasn't going to change that. She had tried to make something, anything, work, but it hadn't and she couldn't help being relieved that Jake wasn't a part of that.

But he was a part of this. It was something that would haunt him his whole life, and it was only getting worse. At least he wouldn't remember the kidnappings and being held at gunpoint. Cam would only vaguely remember those moments. But Lucky's death? That would stick with him. He understood what death was now, and there was no going back. Knowing that the killer was his own biological father? She wasn't sure how he would take that. If he would ever forgive her for the lies she told. God help them if Jason actually got some kind of contact with Jake. She didn't think she would be able to stand for it. By Nik's reaction, he wouldn't. She was all of the sudden grateful for the Cassidine in him.

"What is he THINKING?" She blurted once she had calmed down some. While she had been sobbing Nik had laid her down on his bed and he was now holding her close. Her back was pulled tightly to his chest and his arms were holding her together. She felt like she'd shatter if he let her go. "What in God's name could he possibly be thinking?"

Nik let out a breath. He was enjoying holding her a lot more than he should, but he knew that she needed it, so he didn't pull away. Not that he thought that he really could. If he let her go he would explode. He was nothing but a grenade, and she was the pin. Holding her together was holding him together. "He's probably thinking that Jake didn't see him, or that he doesn't remember. All he knows is what the police know, which is that Jake couldn't talk about it or describe the person that… shot Lucky."

"I should have known something was wrong. I didn't see it though. I didn't see the way he flinched when I said Lucky's name, or brought up the shooting." She had spent the better part of an hour hysterical, and her words now came out almost cold, her emotion spent.

They didn't say another word, they just lay there together until they eventually fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Part 4**

* * *

Liz woke to the distant sound of little boys laughing. She smiled slightly at that.

"It's the monitor." Nikolas breathed in her ear. They were wrapped up together in his bed. She didn't exactly remember getting under the covers the night before, but wasn't surprised. She had been completely out of it. It was amazing how comfortable she was here; snuggled into the warmth of Nki's arms.

She looked up and saw a pair of receivers sitting on the table next to the bed. One was off, but the other was where the sound of the kids, and now the voice of the nanny, was coming from. She raised an eyebrow and turned her head to meet Nik's eyes. His face was just inches from hers, so he couldn't miss the amusement on her face. "Baby monitor you mean."

"Security monitor." He said with emphasis.

"That's a baby monitor, two of them. I know what they look like." She was almost laughing at him.

"It is not." He defended.

"They have Fisher Price written on them."

"So?"

She giggled. "Emily bought them didn't she?"

"Yes, so? We put them in Spencer's room and his playroom when we moved him to the end of the hall."

"Not only are they baby monitors. I'm pretty sure she bought them at a." she lowered her voice to sound suitably scandalized, "thrift store."

Nikolas laughed.

* * *

Nikolas and Elizabeth didn't really discuss a plan that day. They worked together to handle details, but they didn't get around to the big picture.

Liz went with a huge crew of packers and movers and emptied her house. She went from room to room picking out sentimental items and the boys' favorite things and clothes. A small team followed her and packed as she went. When that was done, the rest of the house was packed up in boxes and delivered to local charities. She didn't want anything from that place, anything that could ever remind her of the time she spent with Jason. Since her part of that process was relatively small, she left them to it and went to GH.

It was Liz's day off, so they were fairly surprised when she came in and asked to speak with her supervisor, Bobbie Spencer. She could have talked to Bobbie on the phone, but she wanted to do this as by the book as she could. She explained to her former in-law that she needed 2 weeks off, starting immediately, so that she could get Jake the help he needed and spend some time with him and Cameron. She had plenty of paid vacation time saved up, and her department was slightly overstaffed at the moment anyway. Two new nurses had just started, (including Rebecca Lovett) and three were retiring, (including Epiphany Johnson) but still had a few weeks to go. When the overlap ended they would be one nurse short, but for the moment they were up by two and complaints about reduced schedules were driving Bobbie up the wall.

On her way out Nik called her and told her that he had secured a real estate agent who would be willing to handle the cleaning, inspections and repairs she would need to get her house sold. All she had to do was drop off a set of keys and the rest would be completely hands off, aside from signing paperwork here and there. She smirked slightly into the phone. Even Jason and his all powerful mob connections would be hard pressed to get things done as handily as "The Cassidine".

"I guess it really is good to be the prince huh?"

/Yes it is, smartass./

She laughed and promised to drop off the keys before continuing with her errands.

Her next stop was the Spencer house. It was weird to still call it that, even though nobody named Spencer had lived there in over a year. First Lulu had married Lucky's partner, Dante Falcanari, and then Lucky had moved into an apartment down town and had Ethan and Rebecca move in to the house. Liz didn't really get it, but Lulu was really close to her brother and Ethan had been dying to get out of the Quartermaine mansion since the moment Rebecca had tricked him into moving in there.

And Liz still wasn't entirely certain that they had told Laura about the move, or Ethan's existence for that matter. It wouldn't surprise her if they hadn't mentioned either. Laura was in her own little world in Paris, with Scott Baldwin, and didn't really talk to her children much. She had come for the funeral, but she had stayed at the MetroCourt and hadn't interacted with very many people.

Rebecca and Lulu were in the kitchen, working on a nice Sunday dinner. They were having all of the various "uncomfortable in-laws" over at once, to get it over with. They were going to trap Olivia Falcanari and her boy toy John Zachara, Sonny Corinthos and his annoying wife Lydia, Luke and Tracy Spencer, and Edward and Monica Quartermaine in a room together for dinner. Needless to say, the women had broken out the wine early and their husbands had gone to the Haunted Star to work up their courage.

"What's up Liz? Wanna join us for dinner?" Rebecca asked with a smile. The pair had come to a sort of friendly type place in their relationship recently. It had taken Liz a long time to get past the way Rebecca had used her sister's memory to try and bilk Nikolas and the Qs, but she had a good relationship with the Qs and seemed to genuinely love nursing and Ethan, and she was great with the boys, so Liz did her best to suck it up and be nice.

"No." Liz said emphatically. "I just wanted to let you guys know that I'm selling my house and staying with Nikolas for a while. And I wanted to ask you not to tell anyone where we're staying."

"What? Why? What's wrong?" Lulu asked in concern.

"I don't really want to get into it. Hopefully it will blow over and I won't have to. Just, if anyone asks about where me and the kids are living, don't tell them anything. I wanted you guys to know so you wouldn't worry and so you can make sure to visit. Obviously, I don't expect you to spend a lot of time there Becca, but I don't want the family to feel cut off from the boys."

Rebecca nodded. She may be on somewhat good terms with everyone else, but she and Nikolas were going on two years of extreme loathing. She understood his reasons, so she didn't judge him for it…. Much. Ok, she judged him, but she tried not to be a bitch about it.

"Is this about Jason?" Lulu asked.

Liz saw Rebecca's reaction flicker from "OMG" to studied indifference, and took it that someone had shared her secret with her. She thought about how to answer without having to confront Rebecca on her knowledge, which would stir the pot, or explain it to her while she pretended to be shocked, which she really couldn't handle right now. "Yeah, it is, but I really don't want to talk about it right now. Lulu, you should fill Becca in. She's family after all, and you're a bit less biased than I am about it right now."

"Who gets to know where you are?" Lulu asked tallying a mental list.

"Basically? You guys, Steven, Luke and Tracy, the Drakes, Alexis and Molly."

"Alexis and Molly?" Rebecca asked.

"They go out to the island all the time, so it would be hard to hide from them, and we're trying to get Alexis to help with some legal stuff. Kristina may or may not find out since she's at school right now. Oh, and I would tell Bobbie, but if Jason used Carly to ask, she wouldn't lie."

Rebecca nodded and poured Liz a glass of wine. "What do you want everyone else to know?" If there was one thing Rebecca was now an expert at, it was choreographing the gossip mill at GH. She wasn't a straight up gossip whore like Amy Vining had been back in the day; she just knew what to tell exactly which people in order to get the desired effect. The year before she had helped Lucky nab someone stealing drugs from the hospital pharmacy with this skill. Of course she had also gotten some rumors of Nikolas being treated for multiple STDs around, and gotten another tech to quit after the "known fact" that he had a kink for lab equipment and hospital gowns spread to everyone in the hospital Ben Parker's "Great Power" speech was completely lost on her.

Liz accepted the glass and drank it as she spoke. "I told Bobbie that I need time off to help Jake and spend time with the kids. Hopefully people will think that we went somewhere out of town for a couple weeks. After that, I'll let people think that I'm staying with Steven for a while, since Grams' house is where I always run to when I need to, and I can get him to be noncommittal about that. I'm not really sure how to cover Jake not going to daycare anymore."

"Well, I'd stick with the truth on that one. He's getting round the clock personal attention while he deals with therapy and his father's murder." Lulu and Liz just stared at Rebecca.

"What? You said he's not going to daycare anymore, so that means he's staying with Spencer and his nanny. That's highly personalized attention 24 hours a day. And he's still working through the shooting with Kevin Collins. Absolute truth, no details. Plus people will be reluctant to bring it up with you personally, so you don't have to deal with as many questions."

Liz just shook her head and said her goodbyes, before going to speak with her brother and her friends.


	5. Chapter 5

**Part 5**

* * *

Nikolas spent that Sunday at home.

He didn't want to be connected with anything that Liz was doing that day. They were hopeful that Jason wouldn't push right away. He tended to let things rest for a few days before approaching Liz again about something. If his pattern held, then he wouldn't know anything at all until Tuesday or so, and then he would find that Liz had taken time off and left for a couple weeks. He would obviously see that she was selling the house, but he wouldn't be too surprised by that after the way she had acted the day before. He also wouldn't necessarily connect the speed in which she did things to Nik. Even if he did, he wouldn't look for her with him.

Liz hiding at Wyndemere didn't fit the pattern of her previous behavior. Leaving town did, since that was what she had done after Zander had been killed and she left Ric for the last time. Spinelli would look for her, check her accounts and find nothing. When her vacation was over, she'd reappear and the whole town would "know" that she was staying with her brother Steven. It would take a few days fo figure out that that wasn't' true. All in all, it would take time to figure out where she was, and that was the point. It was a distraction.

While Jason was distracted, they were going to figure out how to deal with the situation, and what could be done to get justice for Lucky and peace of mind for Jake.

Alexis showed up just moments after he hung up with Liz. He still has a bit of a smile on his face when she came in the room.

"Oh god, what now?" She asked her nephew. "That look means either you are about to do something really stupid, over a woman, or you are thinking of something stupid you've already done, over a woman."

Nikolas looked at her, offended. "I haven't even DATED since that fiasco with Rebecca Lovett a few years ago, and I believe your 'I told you so' has been officially registered, thank you."

"True enough." Alexis conceded. "What can I do for you?"

"First I want to remind you that you have been under retainer as my personal attourney since you went back into private practice."

I'm aware of that Nikolas. You are my biggest client." Alexis's experience as the Cassidine family lawyer, corporate lawyer, and mob lawyer, made her just about perfect for handling anything Nikolas could possibly need. He had developed quite a few business ventures outside of the Cassidine holdings since Spencer's birth, wanting to be sure that he has everything he could eve need, even if he wasn't the prince. He loved his son completely, but he simply wasn't a legitimate heir for the purposes of lineage. If Nikolas never married and had a legitimate son, then the Cassidine holdings would be in chaos and split among any remaining family members, even those outside the main line. Spencer would only get a small portion of that. So Nikolas set up outside holdings and a few smaller corporations. To keep Helena from interfering too much, he kept his name off the books as much as possible and handled business through third parties and holding companies where he could. This would come in handy now.

"Just making a point. I don't want what we are going to discuss to bet back to anyone, especially your oldest daughter."

"What? Why? What does Sam have to do with anything?"

"We are going to be buying up some companies through the holding companies."

Alexis was confused. "Ok, and what does that have to do with Sam?"

"They are all companies that do business with Corinthos Morgan Coffee."

Alexis's eyebrows shot up. "Why are we buying up Sonny and Jason's business contacts?"

Nikolas smirked. "So we can choke off their business and limit their supply of legitimate income."

* * *

Two hours later and the explanations had been made and plans set in motion. Well, the explanation had been incomplete. Nikolas had only told his aunt that Jason was after visitation with Jake, and he wanted the man distracted and paranoid. If he thought other organizations were after him, he would hesitate about going after Jake publicly.

He didn't mention the shooting. He wasn't sure why exactly, he just felt that she would run to Sam and use it to try and get her away from him. She was still under the impression that the danger of Jason's life would eventually be too much for Sam to ignore, even after they had married. Nikolas had no such illusions. He saw the way she sparkled after some PI case of hers got a little too hot. She enjoyed it, got off on it. It was a sickness. He didn't have much of a relationship with his cousin to start with, so his loyalties fell with Elizabeth after all of the hurtful and dangerous things she had done a few years ago. Frankly he couldn't care less about the woman, but he knew that Alexis did.

He had to Alexis that Elizabeth and the kids were basically hiding out with him, and that she shouldn't tell anyone that she knew where they were. She seemed hesitant about lying to Sam and keeping things from her, but he was her client. She did agree to let Molly come play with the kids later in the day.

Molly wouldn't tell Sam anything. She had listened to one too many lectures about why her father was basically the devil from her sister. She had also accidentally found out what had broken up her parents' marriage. Basically she and Kristina had taken Ric's side in the whole affair once they knew about it. There had been a growing rift between the sisters for a while now, and Sam was on her own. They still loved her, but they didn't spend a lot of time together or get involved in each other's lives anymore, not for a couple years now. Not since Sam got involved with Jason again and made her whole life about him.

Nikolas actually wished that Kristina was here. She would be in their corner, and she was a good example of why Jason was a moron. Look what had happened to her over the years since Sonny had been revealed as her father. But Kristina had escaped the nuthouse, as she had called it, and gone to Harvard a year early.

When had his family gotten so entangled with the mob? It seemed like a new tie wound between them all the time. If only he could extract them all with this plan. Not that he was even sure the plan would work at all. They were going to try anything that was legal to keep Jason from going to court for visitation of Jake. If it got on the court record that Jason was Jake's father, the danger to his nephew rose exponentially. Jason may have lost sight of why he wasn't in Jake's life, but Liz and Nikolas hadn't.

The plan was for Nikolas to start buying up customers and vendors that Corinthos Morgan used, and stop doing business with them. With the legal money going away they would have to dip further into their illegal funds to keep up their front. They would obviously suspect rival families of going after them and Sonny would do something stupid to set off another war with some family or other. Jason wouldn't go after Jake if he knew that he would be a target. Nik might even nudge a few crime families in their direction, just to get things good and messy. Was it legal? Mostly. Was it ethical? No way. Was it liable to get other people hurt? Maybe, but he could only protect his own family, and that was what he was doing.

Sure it would be easier to just kill Jason, especially in light of the fact that he was responsible for Lucky's death and Jake's trauma, but Nikolas had a child to raise himself, and he didn't think going to prison or living on the run would help anyone. It wasn't off the table, but it wasn't something Nikolas was looking forward to doing. Besides, a war was bound to happen soon enough and all the same people would be endangered by it.

Molly, Morgan, baby Maggie Jane and Cameron would all have his guards on them, even if Carly's kids wouldn't be aware of it. Carly and her children were important to Lulu, and he didn't want her hurt if he could help it. Jake and Spencer would be guarded heavily on the island and even more so if they ever left it. And Kristina and Michael already had guards living with them at school. Since they were living together he had slipped in an extra guard and Michael didn't know the difference.

That one Carly actually knew about and thanked him for, since Sonny didn't see the need for protection so far away from his territory, even though everyone and their mother knew that the easiest targets are the ones that are further away from help. Even Jason had wanted a couple guards on the kids in Massachusetts, but Sonny had forbidden it, wanting them to have a normal college experience. He had been furious when Kristina mentioned her guard detail in passing during their monthly "hi, we're fine, don't need money, gotta go, bye" phone calls. Alexis had cited the constant danger Helena posed to her children as a really good reason to have guards on her when they couldn't protect her themselves, so he begrudgingly agreed to "allow" Nikolas to protect his daughter. Not that Nik would have cared what the greasy little midget thought anyway.

Carly had come to Spoon Island and asked that a guard be placed on Michael as well, and even offered to cover the cost. She knew that he could assign another of his people and Michael would never need to know that he was being watched as well. All he would see was an extra guard for Kristina. His opinion of her had jumped about 6 points that day.

Of course even with all of this, Jason could still want Jake. It was a risk. They couldn't prove he had killed Lucky and send him to jail. They could take the kids and move to Cassidine Island or disappear somewhere, but they really didn't want to uproot the kids and separate them from the rest of the family. They didn't have a lot of options to keep Jake safe if Jason did get to court. The only way to ensure that his way of life wouldn't be a danger to anyone, was if he didn't have one.

So, if it came down to the wire, if they had to choose…. Jason Morgan was dead.


	6. Chapter 6

**Part 6

* * *

**

Liz smiled as she watched the kids play in the giant fort in the play yard. They were all so happy, and she was grateful for that. The last two weeks had allowed them to loosen up and enjoy themselves.

Spencer was pulling out of his quiet shell. Having other kids to play, learn, and interact with on a daily basis was incredibly good for him. Even Nikolas, who was also a quiet child, saw the good it was doing his little boy. While he had always planned to send Spence to school and not leave him to a solitary education with only tutors and servants for company the way he had been, he hadn't really understood how important early socialization was. He thought that visits with his cousins every month or so would be enough. He was now seeing that daily interaction was much better. It was too bad that, for the moment, that interaction was limited to who could visit him here at home.

Cameron was having a blast on his vacation from first grade. He was even more thrilled that they would get to stay is the castle even when he went back to school. He didn't really understand all of the security measures, or why he wasn't supposed to tell anyone that they were living there, but he really liked his guard, Glen, and thought he was his new friend. They had Glen and Jimmy, Liz's guard, start hanging around them a week before they were to go back into town, so that the kids would be used to seeing them all the time. It was also so Liz could feel more comfortable with the people who were responsible for her and her family's safety.

Jake's change was the most dramatic. He had bounced back like a beach ball after he had finally gotten the identity of his dad's killer off his chest. Kevin Collins was coming by every day, and spending a few hours with him. He was like his old self again. Yes, he still had nightmares, and both kids cried and missed Lucky sometimes, but it was a healthier grief, instead an almost PTSD reaction.

Kevin's excuse for going to Wyndemere so regularly was that Kara, Spencer's nanny, was on vacation – she was enjoying a nice beach holiday in the tropics - and that his stepdaughter, Christina, was filling in when she wasn't in class at PCU. Her car was in the shop, so Kevin played chauffer for her. This was actually true, since Tina was Liz's babysitter, and she trusted her. They even brought Kevin and Lucy's adopted daughter Danielle to play with the boys a few times, since she was the same age as Spencer.

Right now it was Sunday afternoon again and Tina, Danielle and Molly were all there having a blast with the boys. Lulu and Dante were sitting with Nik and Liz in the screened pavilion chatting and generally enjoying themselves. Robin and Emma Drake were on their way over as well, to make it a real party.

Alfred showed Robin into the play yard minutes later. She smiled slightly when Cam and Danielle came running up yelling "Emma's here!" and put the little girl down to run over and play with the other kids. When she turned to join the adults, however, her expressing was tense and annoyed.

Nikolas greeted his friend with a kiss on the cheek and led her to the set of comfortable, canvas covered, couches and chairs that had been brought out for them that day.

"What's wrong?" Liz asked her as she handed her a glass of raspberry iced tea.

"Jason was at the hospital today." Robin said. She was friends with both Jason and Elizabeth, which made the whole situation difficult for her. She understood why Liz was keeping Jake from him, but it put a strain on their relationship.

"Oh." Liz said a bit dejectedly. She had been hoping that Robin wouldn't be put in a position to lie to Jason.

"Oh, no, he didn't talk to me." Robin said, sounding a bit put out by it. "It's all over the hospital though. He came in and spoke to Monica for a few minutes. Then she went up to the 6th floor and cornered Rebecca Lovett in the supply room. I don't know what was said, but Monica came out fuming and Rebecca left for the rest of the day after talking to Epiphany in near tears. And then, as she was leaving the building, Jason grabbed her and spent 10 minutes questioning her, before Ethan showed up and nearly knocked him out for manhandling his wife. Then the cops showed up and Jason threatened to press charges. Rebecca showed the patrolman the red marks where Jason had been grabbing her and Ethan saw it and started yelling. Nobody ended up pressing charges, but it was a huge scene."

Lulu quickly excused herself and called her sister-in-law while Dante called the PD to see what they had to say. Lulu came back a few moments later with a huge sigh of relief as she grabbed a glass of wine from the built in buffet. "Becca is fine; the tears were for show apparently. Since the moment they met, Ethan has been a bad influence on her." She paused and sat down and rolled her eyes at the face Nikolas was making. "Anyway, Monica cornered her to ask where Liz was. Jason went to the house and saw that it was empty and there was a realtor's lock box on the door and a for sale sign in the yard. That was on Wednesday. He spoke to Monica and the other Qs about Jake being his earlier in the week. Edward gave dad a real hard time about keeping the secret while living under his roof the other day. So, Jason goes looking for where Liz could be, and finds zip, except that there were a few calls from her cell to our house at the beginning of last week, from different cities leading south."

Liz and Nik nodded, Kara had taken the phone with her and made the calls on her round about trip to Tahiti. Since Nikolas was paying for her trip, and the private jet she took, she had been happy to help.

"Right, so today he gets Monica to talk to Rebecca, because everyone knows that she and Liz don't really get along that well, and they figure she has no reason not to tell Monica everything she knows. But they apparently don't know our family that well. Becca says she doesn't know anything, so Monica starts guilt tripping her about how the Qs took her in, even after she scammed them, and that she owes them. Rebecca tells her that Edward is the one who she owes, and unless he asks her to, she won't betray the trust of her family."

Liz wrinkled her brows in concern but Lulu waved it off. "Edward doesn't think Jason is fit to raise a goldfish. He already called her and told her that he didn't expect her to betray our trust just to endanger a child like that. She said it was really creepy. He's not supporting Jason at this point, but he's gonna make some noise about seeing Jake at some later date. He's probably planning something sneaky." She took a breath and finished her glass of wine before grabbing another. "So, Becca calls Ethan to come get her, puts on the water works, and gets out of work. Jason grabbing her surprised her. He's not really known to be violent with women, especially in such a public way. She told him to fuck off, he threatened her, then Ethan showed up and decked him. He apologizes for that, by the way, says he didn't mean to make things worse, but he was really hurting Becca and he lost his temper."

Dante took over the story from there. "Security calls the PD and Greer shows up. There's some back and forth about who assaulted who before Morgan leaves. Ethan and Becky are still talking to the cop when guard who was covering the entrance, and called the station in the first place, comes up and offers not only a witness statement that Morgan assaulted Mrs. Lovett, but a copy of the security footage that proves it. He has a real hate on for Morgan apparently. So, they all go the precinct and Becca files assault charges and asks for a restraining order to keep him away from her and her home. Paperwork on the order should be done by morning, and Jason Morgan was arrested for assault 20 minutes ago

They were all silent for a moment, until Nikolas chuckled darkly. "Looks like we know who will be babysitting Jake in an emergency don't we."

They all let out short laughs. Nobody expected this, and they were trying not to freak out, so humor seemed the way to go.

"Well," Liz stated with a sigh, "I guess I have to be nicer to Rebecca now."

Nikolas made a face and rolled his eyes. "I guess I should cancel my weekly delivery of dead rats to her doorstep."

"That would be nice, I think our neighbors are starting to suspect Chris Henson down the street is doing it. They think he's a Jeffery Dommer in training or something, poor kid."

That got a snort and some chuckles, but Lulu smacked her husband on the back of the head.

Liz frowned. "I don't know what the big fuss is even about. I'm going to be back at work tomorrow. It's even on the schedule."

"He probably just panicked and thought you skipped town" Said Robin.

"Doesn't matter, this is just a blip, and in our favor. Jason is losing his cool, making mistakes. He's probably going to get probation for assault, since it's a pretty airtight case. Even if he intimidates the guard, there is the tape, and I'll bet money that the cops keep dozens of copies of it all over the place, so they don't misplace it. It might even, accidentally of course, make it to the media. We just keep to what we planned and hope for the best."

Tomorrow the vacation was over, and the hard part began.


	7. Chapter 7

**Part 7**

* * *

Monday morning was the first day of their new routine. It was an adjustment for everyone, since Liz insisted on getting the kids started for the day herself, and she insisted that Nikolas help her. Kara was the nanny, not the parent, and there had to be some things that he did himself. Luckily Elizabeth had gotten to the point in her nursing career that she got a regular shift, instead of different hours every day. Sure, sometimes she would work late, go in early, or cover a shift, but in general she could keep a regular routine with the kids.

Nikolas and Elizabeth both woke up at 5:30 and got ready for the day. At 6:30, Liz woke Cameron and Nik woke Spence and Jake and got them dressed. Liz also got Cam's school books and lunch money and wrote a note to the teacher asking for any make up work that he needed. At 7, they all had breakfast at the table that had been set up in the playroom for just this purpose. The kids got cereal and juice and the adults had coffee and Danish. At 7:30 Kara came in and Nik went downstairs to his office, while Liz and Cam went down to the launch. Cam's school was only a 5 minute drive from the docks, and a car, driven by her guard Jimmy, dropped off Cameron and Glen and then took her to the hospital just in time to change into her scrubs for her 8:30 shift.

The whole thing was weirdly… suburban, if you took out the castle the servants and the guards. Also, you would need to lose the mobster waiting for her in the hall outside the locker room.

"Jason, what do you want? I hope you're not out to get arrested for assaulting another nurse."

"Where have you been? I've been looking for you for over a week." Jason's tone was without its usual cool tone. He was angry and flustered, not used to being thoroughly thwarted.

"I spent a nice vacation with my children. I don't have to tell you anything. You're not my husband, you're not even my friend anymore."

"Where is Jake? Why isn't he in daycare?"

"He's at home. Unlike you, I can't just brush aside how much he's suffering right now. He's being taken care of, that's all you get to know." Elizabeth was starting to lose her own calm. "I have a job to get to. If you really want to talk about this I can stop by your penthouse after my shift. Or are you going to leave me alone?"

Jason nodded and stiffly said, "I'll be home before your shift ends."

"Fine" she said as she turned on her heel and walked away.

* * *

Nikolas made it a point to share lunch with Jake and Spencer that day. He wanted to make sure they were adjusting to the new schedule well.

"Hey guys, how was your morning?" He asked as he sat down at the table with them.

"It was fun. Kara let us practice our knots by letting us tie up Alfred!" Spencer was very excited to tie up the butler, who was one of his favorite people.

Nikolas choked on his tea. "Really? That's… interesting. What about you Jake, did you have fun?"

Jake hesitated a bit. He loved his Uncle Nik, but he wasn't really used to being around him all the time, and definitely not without his parents and Cam there with them. "Yeah, I got to play some of Spence's Leap Frog games, and play pirates, and we're gonna bake cookies to have for desert tonight. But… we have to take a nap after lunch." He made a face. "I hate naps."

Nikolas smiled at that. "Well, I would love a nap myself, but grownups aren't allowed to take nap breaks in the afternoon."

"They do in Spain." Spencer piped up with his mouth full.

"Spencer, not talking with food in your mouth."

Spencer swallowed before replying. "Yes sir, sorry."

Nikolas reached over and ruffled his son's hair.

"Right, they have siesta in Spain and other Latin countries, but here in America we don't get nap time as grownups. So, Jake has to take his nap every day, so that he grows up faster. Because little boys grow in their sleep, right Spence?"

"Right, daddy tells me that all the time." Spencer agreed.

* * *

Jason was pacing the living room floor by 5:00. Sam was sitting on the couch, trying to look over some papers that Spinelli had given her before she left work for the day. Jason's pacing was distracting her.

"Jason, stop. Elizabeth will be by as soon as she can. She's just getting off work now. It's going to take her some time to get changed from her scrubs, most likely call in to check on the boys, and get over here. I'm just as anxious as you are to get this worked out, but you're driving me nuts."

"She's not acting like herself. She's never been this cold and hateful to me. Not even when she found out I was dating Courtney after everything…"

"Maybe she's just finally showing you her true colors. I've never seen her as quite so perfect as you seem to." Sam sneered.

A knock sounded at the door. Jason rushed to open it and Sam just rolled her eyes.

Liz stood, angry, on the other side of the door. "I'm here, what do you want?"

Liz just raised her eyebrows and gave Sam a look as she entered the penthouse. "You don't have any say in this."

"I'm Jason's wife." Sam stated angrily.

"And you are also the reason why I stopped letting Jason be around my family at all. The minute he hooked up with you he lost all of my respect."

"You have no right – " Sam stood and stepped toward Liz, hands fisted.

"You are the cause of a huge chunk of the terrible things to happen to my children in their lives. I have every right to protect my children from you." Liz was cold and hateful. She would use anything that she could to discourage Jason from going after Jake. His part in Lucky's death was the big gun, the ace up her sleeve.

"Elizabeth, I thought you were past all that." Jason seemed confused.

"Just because you can forgive her for nearly getting Jake killed, terrorizing him and Cam, and telling me my child was dead after she watched him get snatched in the park, doesn't mean I can. Apparently it's ok to hurt your son. Except that you tried to kill Claudia for hurting Michael. I guess we know which is most important to you, don't we?"

"That's not fair. Michael was shot in the head and put in coma."

"And Jake was kidnapped and nearly murdered by your enemies. At least Claudia had a good reason to want Sonny dead. Michael getting shot was an accident. What Sam did was intentional. And, frankly it doesn't matter anymore. She is never getting within a hundred yards of either of my children again, ever. And you made your choice, more than once."

Sam took another step toward her. "He has rights, he's his father!"

"No, he's not. He had two years to make any kind of claim, but he didn't. Time was up almost three years ago, and he knows that, better than anyone. He used to tell me all the time, 'if only Robin had waited another year, then AJ couldn't have taken Michael'. Right Jason?" Her arms were crossed tightly and her expression was full of loathing, for both of them.

"We'll think of something. Everybody is going to know. You won't be able to lie anymore. He's Jake's fa-"

Liz whirled on Sam. "He killed his father!"

The room was quiet for a moment and Liz could see the sheer surprise and disbelief on Sam's face. Jason was also shocked but his expression showed sadness too.

Liz held back tears. "Jason murdered Jake's father right in front of him." She looked at Jason again. "And now you want to replace him, like it's no big deal. Like seeing you murder his father in cold blood shouldn't matter."

"I didn't think –"

"You didn't think what? You didn't think he recognized you? That can't be it, since you planned to shove yourself in his face on a regular basis. You didn't think he saw you? So it's ok to kill Lucky with Jake standing there to watch him bleed to death, as long as he didn't know it was you. No problem." Her voice was rising and tears were flooding her eyes.

Sam had sat back down on the couch in shock and wasn't saying a word.

"He told me –" She took a breath and tried to calm herself. "He told me I wasn't allowed to play with you anymore. He saw you, he saw someone that he knew and recognized as my friend, shoot his father in the chest, and walk away. Is it something that would stand up in court? Probably not, and I wouldn't want him to go through that anyway. But he knows, I know, what you did, and there is no getting over it."

She tried to walk around him and leave, but he stopped her by grabbing her wrist lightly. "It was an accident." He said in a quiet, almost timid, voice. "I didn't know who was out there. I just heard a noise and reacted."

"That just makes it worse Jason!" She yelled, then she pulled her voice into an almost whisper. "You could have, would have, shot anyone, to protect your crimes. As long as it wasn't someone you knew, it wouldn't matter to you at all. It could have been anyone out there, teenagers, school kids, but it didn't matter. You could just as easily have killed Jake. He's going to blame himself you know. On some level he already does. He keeps saying that he just wanted to watch the sail boats."

"I can fix it. I can make him see it was an accident. I can fill that void."

"You caused that void, and you aren't using my son to make yourself feel better about what you did. And it wasn't an accident. I won't have Jake raised to think that the cops are the bad guys and that what you do with your life is ok on ANY level. Look what happened to Michael, he shot someone and never paid any price for it. Yes, he was shot himself and in a coma, but he woke up just as sure that you and Sonny were the good guys as he was when he shot Kate Howard. The only reason he's not in the mob right now is because his mother and Jax finally got a clue and made him finish high school in a military school hundreds of miles away from both of you. Kristina ran as fast as she possibly could from your world. And look at them now. She's at Harvard studying law to put criminals like you away, and he's at Cambridge studying psychology so he can help people whose lives you destroy, people like Jake."

"I'm not giving up. I can't."

"Well, you can't win either." She yanked her arm from his grasp and marched out the door. She didn't even wait for the elevator, she took the stairs.

* * *

Liz was still fuming when she got on the launch for Spoon Island, so much so that she didn't' notice Milo on the bench by the stairs. On the ride over she stood at the bow and let the spray of the water mist over her face. It helped her calm down and almost put her in a good mood.

Her mood really lifted when she entered the dining room a few minutes later. Cameron, Jake and Spencer were setting the table under the eagle eye of Alfred. Alfred didn't look pleased to have children doing the work of his staff. Nikolas, however, looked genuinely tickled from his position leaning against the wall next to the door.

"What's all this?" Liz asked with a smile.

Nik rolled his head to look at her. "Cam wanted to help Alfred and Florence, who usually do this. He says they're too old to be doing this every day."

Liz laughed. "Oh really? No wonder Alfred looks like someone killed his puppy."

"Well, he's a lot happier now. They were planning to use the good china to start with. Jake and Spence helped make desert, so they thought it was a special occasion."

Liz moved to lean on the wall next to him and laid her head on his shoulder. She relaxed a bit and let her purse fall to the ground from where it had been resting in the crook of her arm. "Did Jake have a good day? It must have been so strange for him."

"I think he had a lot of fun. One of the reason's Alfred is so put out is that Spence and Jake tied him up with their sailing knots this morning. Supervised of course."

"I'm glad." She said with a small grin. As long as the kids were happy, it was worth all the ugliness with Jason and anyone else who caused a stir.

"You saw Jason tonight." Nikolas wasn't asking, since he had spoken to Jimmy while she was upstairs at Harborview Towers. He had been worried that she wouldn't allow him to accompany her, but Nik had assured him that it was something she had to do on her own. He also called from the launch after Milo Giambetti had seen them leaving for the island. That might be a problem, but at least they knew about it.

"I did. I confronted him with everything." She took a deep breath. "He's determined though. He thinks he can 'fix it' by being a part of Jake's life. He wants to tell him it was an accident and 'fill the void' that losing Lucky has left for him. Sam, however, was completely shocked about Lucky. He didn't tell her. Not that I really think that will change anything."

Nik nodded. He didn't think so either. Sam was completely wrapped up in her husband and his life, she would back his play no matter what her personal feelings on the subject, and it would be no time before he had her seeing it his way all together. "One of his guys saw you get on the launch tonight. He will probably know where you're living by tomorrow morning."

She blew out a breath. "Fine I guess. I can't bring myself to panic about it right now. I'm so drained from all of this."

He slipped his arm around her and pulled her into a hug, which she returned. They just stood there and watched the kids giggle and joke as they set the table for dinner.


	8. Chapter 8

**Part 8**

* * *

Liz was starting to feel like her life was a series of big dramatic moments, followed by long pauses. Not that the long pauses weren't great, but it was fraying her nerves. Every day she wondered if this would be the day for the next event. The kids were starting to notice her anxiety, and she didn't want that.

So far all of the boys were completely unaware of the chaos surrounding them. Nikolas said that they were just resilient. She though that they were just used to constant turmoil. It was depressing really.

Other than that, their lives were quickly becoming a very comfortable routine. Nik spent more one on one time with all the boys than ever, Liz bonded with Spencer more than ever, the kids became an even more tight knit group than ever. Cam and Jake practically adopted Spence as another brother, and he was beyond thrilled to have the boys to play with every day. Liz even coaxed Nik into doing all of the "normal" family things that he had never considered before.

Right now they were sitting in the media room watching "Beauty and the Beast" in theater size video and surround sound. Cam was very impressed. Jake and Spence, however, were already asleep on one of the couches.

"I can't believe you have never seen this movie before." Liz was amused as well as amazed. She had figured that Lulu would have made him watch it at some point in her childhood.

"No, not this one. Aladdin? That one I have seen." The look on his face was so pained that Liz couldn't help but laugh.

"Well, at least this one has some things that you will recognize. Castle, dark prince, ballroom dancing." Her amusement was shining through.

"I am NOT a beast. I would have let the old woman in." Nikolas feigned indignation.

"You wouldn't?" Liz raised an eyebrow. She was really enjoying this time together. They were sitting in the very back of the long media room, on a squishy loveseat. She was leaning up against him and using his shoulder as a pillow.

"Of course not. I would feed her bread and water and let her sleep next to the hearth in the kitchen."

"So magnanimous." She said mockingly.

The y watched the movie for a few more minutes, until Liz saw Beast lead Belle into the ballroom. "Here's where they dance. So romantic, even if he's a bit creepy."

Nikolas smiled at her. "I don't suppose you'd like to dance with a creepy prince of your own?" He stood and held out a hand for her.

Liz giggled a bit before accepting his hand and standing with him. A few seconds later Mrs. Potts started singing and the waltz began. Liz sighed happily as she danced close to Nik. "You remember dancing with me before?"

"How could I forget." He said pulling her closer as they moved around the small open space next to their loveseat. "You were beautiful."

She smiled up at him. "Well, you were the dashing prince. I thought of that moment almost every time Lucky ever danced with me. It's such a happy memory." She looked into his eyes and was pulled into them. They continued to dance in silence, staring into each other's eyes, even after the song had ended.

Nikolas looked deep into Elizabeth's eyes and found himself wanting to kiss her. 2 years ago he had done so in an ill-advised move to make Rebecca jealous, and then again because they were drunk and curious. Now he was stone cold sober, not out to impress anyone, and he really wanted to feel her lips on his.

He flicked his gaze to where the kids were happily sleeping and then over to the door that had been left open by one of the maids delivering snacks. He didn't even give himself time to think before he started gradually dancing Liz across the threshold and into the hall. She gave him a bit of a bemused look before he surprised her by pressing her up against the wall and kissing her.

It wasn't tentative like the very first time he kissed her and it wasn't the mauling that he had done in the fake kiss at the hospital. It was a slow, sweet, passionate kiss. It was a kiss that he was fully expecting her to rebuff, as she did so many years ago, when she hadn't loved him back. But she didn't rebuff him. Once her shock wore off, she pulled his head closer to hers and deepened the kiss. It felt like the kiss went on forever, until the clearing of a throat disturbed the quiet.

"Alfred, what can I do for you?" Nikolas was doing his best to seem cool and collected, instead of frazzled and embarrassed like he felt.

"Sir, Miss Davis, Miss Kristina Davis, is here to see you. She says it's urgent." The butler seemed entirely unfazed to see his employer making out with his former sister in law in the hallway.

"Right. Alfred, would you get Kara and help Miss Webber move the children upstairs to their rooms?" Nik turned to Liz, who seemed a bit dazed. "Can you come down when the kids are in bed? I want to find out what Kay needs and then discuss some other business with you. If you're not too tired, that is."

Liz just shook her head. "I'm not tired. I'll be down shortly." Her voice was breathy and small. She turned quickly and went to turn off the movie and grab some of the kids' things before she, Kara and Alfred each took a sleeping child up to bed.

* * *

"Kristina? What are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming down from school for another week?" It was November and Kristina and Michael were scheduled to spend a week at home for Thanksgiving.

"We talked to our professors and came home early. Something happened and I needed to be here."

"What happened." He hadn't heard anything new for a few weeks. As far as he knew, Jason was still unaware of his involvement in the slow crumbling of his business, or Alexis'.

"Milo called us. He said that Jason was harassing Molly about Elizabeth and Jake."

Nikolas studiously ignored the constant use of "us" in her sentences, as everyone else did. There was a reason that Michael chose to attend a small college in the same town that Kristina attended school instead of a place closer to home. Just about everyone they knew avoided the topic like the plague, except Molly who called it "a mafia Mansfield Park, without the blood relations".

"Why would he be bothering Morgan and Molly, and why would Milo call you about it?"

"Milo quit working for Jason a while ago and mom hired him as private security for Molly. Sonny doesn't feel that she needs guards, since she is only Ric's daughter."

That part Nikolas knew. Sonny had withdrawn all security from the Davis family the minute Kristina hit the state line. Alexis didn't really want Sonny's men around her girls anyway, so she was perfectly happy with it. Apparently his campaign against Jason Morgan had prompted her to seek her own security. And he guessed that since Molly was already comfortable with Milo, he made the most sense if he had extracted himself from the mob.

"Before mom offered him a job last month he was working for Carly as a guard at the MetroCourt, kind of like when Max was there. Anyway, Molly was at Carly's playing with Morgan yesterday and she mentioned that she has been spending a lot of time with Cam and Jake since their dad died, because they needed cheering up. It got back to Jason through Morgan's guard. He came to the house and started asking Molly questions. Milo told him to get lost or he'd call the cops, and then he called up to Cambridge. He knows that Elizabeth and the kids are staying here since he drops Molly off at the launch so often lately, and he saw her on her way here after work a few weeks ago."

"You could have called, you know. You didn't have to cut classes and come home early." Nikolas was pissed. First Jason assaulted a woman, one who he admittedly didn't like, and now he was interrogating children. It was time to speak with the man himself.

"Well, I figured that it was only a matter of time before Sam steps in on Jason's behalf, and I wanted to be backup for Molly when that happens. And I sort of have a favor to ask."

Nik raised an eyebrow. "How can I help you?"

Kristina looked a bit sheepish. "Could… Could Michael and I use a couple of rooms in the guest wing here? We really want to spend some time with Spence, and maybe Cameron and Jake too. Plus, He really doesn't want to spend a lot of time with Sonny or Carly. They're… well…"

She didn't finish, but he knew what she meant.

As much as Sonny wanted to pretend otherwise, Kristina and Michael hadn't really been raised as siblings. They spent maybe a few hours together every couple of months from the time her paternity was revealed up until his shooting, if you didn't count the kidnapping when they were small children. They were more passing acquaintances than anything else until he woke up and they started spending a lot of time together.

At first Kristina had been dating Kiefer, an abusive ass as it turned out. This, and Michaels protectiveness of her in the aftermath only made the waters even murkier until Carly and Jax shipped Michael off to military school for his senior year. They kept in pretty close contact right up until graduation, where Michael dropped the bomb that he was going to college near Kristina and they would be sharing an apartment. Nobody was happy, everyone tried to talk them out of it, without actually mentioning why.

At this point they barely talked to Sonny at all and they tiptoed around their mothers. They would jump at any and every excuse to be anywhere but at home. He was frankly relieved that she asked for 2 rooms instead of 1. And really, there was more than enough room. Hell, if they stayed in the guest wing he might not see them for more a few minutes a day.

"Alright. I don't mind if you stay here. However, it's up to Liz if she wants you around Cameron and Jake. Spencer, however, would love to spend time with both of you."

Kristina flashed him a huge smile and gave him a hug before hurrying out to call Michael with the good news.

* * *

Liz loitered at the top of the staircase that led into the living room for a few minutes. She told herself she wasn't procrastinating; she was just giving Nikolas time with his cousin. Of course she stayed there for a bit even after she knew Kristina had left. She had heard the door opening and closing after the muffled voices has stopped floating up to her ears.

She was still a bit shocked by the kiss she and Nik had shared less than an hour ago. Sure, she knew that he found her attractive, especially when he was drunk, and he used to have a huge crush on her, but she never expected him to kiss her quite like that. It was a completely melt worthy romantic gesture, and she had been swept away in it. The press of his body against hers, his hands on her hips as their mouths relished in passionate contact… It was great. It was a hell of a lot more than she had gotten in over a year.

She and Lucky really had tried to make it work one last time, but the spark just hadn't been there. Luckily they had kept everything low key, so the kids weren't affected by it, and they came out of the experience as even closer friends. Still, she hadn't even dated since then, and she hadn't slept with anyone since Jason. That was an extremely depressing thought.

But still. Was Nik really interested in a relationship with her, or was it a spur of the moment thing? Should she ask him what it was, or should she just let him come to her? God she hated men sometimes. She had never really been able to read them right. Lucky, Ric, Jason, none of them had been exactly what she thought they were. Each of them hid things about themselves and put up walls that she just couldn't see through. She wasn't sure Nikolas would be any different, and she just couldn't deal with that again right now, not with everything else.

Eventually she went down the stairs. Nikolas was just standing there, waiting for her, when she reached the last step.

"Are you done over analyzing everything for the moment?" He asked with a sly smile.

"I'm sure I can get back to it later." She answered, making a face at him.

He laughed a little. "I really want to talk to you about it, but something came up that we need to deal with first."

She nodded. "Ok, later. What happened?"

"Jason went to Alexis' house and tried to interrogate Molly about where you were living."

Liz came up short as she was about to sit down. "What?"

Nik sighed. "That was pretty much my reaction too."

"Ok, I think this has gone far enough. I'm going over there and telling him that we're staying here tomorrow. Messing with Rebecca is one thing, but Molly is a child, and his freaking sister in law at that. What the hell has happened to him? He's lost all discretion. I mean, Spinelli should have been able to tell him where we are by now."

Nik rubbed the back of his neck in though. "I think maybe we should be more subtle than that. I don't want to provoke him intentionally. Maybe I should bring all the kids to see you at the hospital tomorrow. Make it nice and public. Have the guards visible and everything."

Liz nodded. "Everyone in town will know by the end of the day. That hospital handles more gossip than patients."

"Yes, well, it was useful to us a few times already, might as well use it again. And as satisfying as screwing with Jason's mind has been, it's really not worth it any more. Frankly I thought better of him."

"Me too." She said, a bit forlornly. She had apparently badly misjudged the father of her child, or he had changed far more than she had ever thought possible.

"And to top off the news for the evening, Kristina and Michael will be staying here, in the guest wing, for a couple of weeks. They came home early because of Molly and they are basically avoiding his parents. Alexis is not as much of an issue right now. She was wondering if it would be ok for them to spend time with the boys. They are going to be visiting with Spence as well. Michael hasn't seen him in a while."

Liz was thoughtful as Nik sat down beside her. Michael was turning out to be an alright guy, and he was their cousin, in more ways than one with Jake, so she didn't see why she should bar him access. Frankly the more people on their side the better at this point. Plus, vindictively, it would piss Jason off that she let Michael hang around Jake, but not him.

"I don't have a problem with it, as long as they know the rules."

Nik nodded and pulled her into the crook of his arm. "I think that concludes the business. Now, what were you thinking, standing at the top of the stairs so long?"

Liz smiled slightly. "I was thinking that you are a really good kisser, but I'm not sure what to think about it."

"To be totally honest, I'm not either. I was rather expecting that to go over as well as it did the first time."

Liz laughed. "Well, your sneak attack has definitely improved over the years."

Liz pulled away and looked at Nik. "If we do this, we have to take it slow. No rushing into anything. The only relationship I ever had that didn't end in total wreckage was the last try with Lucky. I don't want to get crushed again, and I don't want to lose you. Your my best friend, the only one I have left, I need you."

Nik brushed the hair from her face and ran his thumb over her cheek. "I promise, I won't push. I won't propose in a week, I won't ask you to move in with me in a month, I won't ask you for anything. I just want to be with you. That's enough for me."

She leaned in and kissed him softly before pressing in for a deeper one. His hands slipped around her neck to rest in her hair as they continued to kiss for a few moments. Then she pulled away with a smile and said goodnight. As she climbed the stairs he blew out a heavy breath and planned for a long cold shower.


	9. Chapter 9

**Part 9**

* * *

Liz was standing at the 6th floor nurses' station, the second most high traffic area in the hospital, when Nikolas and all the boys came tumbling out of an elevator. The three guards that came with them were grinning madly at the look on the prince's face as he tried to wrangle the three little boys and keep them from wrestling on the floor. Liz glanced around and saw that they had gotten the attention of everyone in the room, including Monica, before she intervened.

"Boys." She said in a semi chastising tone. Immediately all three boys stopped in their tracks and straightened up before running over to the hub.

Just then Rebecca tapped her on the shoulder and pointed to where Monica was now hanging up her cell phone. Liz nodded and then smiled at the little boys.

"Hi guys. What brings you to the hospital today? Cameron, did you run into Glen on your bike again?" Glen had needed stitches after Cameron ran him down and he smashed his shoulder onto a jagged rock.

Jake and Spencer giggled while Cam shook his head. "No, we had lunch with our cousins at Kelly's, and we had icecream with chocolate syrup!"

Rebecca has slipped away without the kids seeing her while they all talked about the big lunch with Kristina, Molly, Michael and Morgan. Carly had been in Kelly's with MJ as well, so she joined them for just a few minutes as well. Liz frowned at that, but Nik just gave her a reassuring smile.

"We saw EVERYONE, cept Lucas" Jake said as the elevator dinged and Jason stepped off. Rebecca stepped up and picked Jake up to say hello.

"Hey handsome." She said, kissing him on the cheek.

"Hi Aunt Becca." He said with a giggle. Jake adored Rebecca for some reason. Spencer didn't really know her, for obvious reasons, and Cameron was old enough to remember Emily, so he was a bit wary of her, but Jake thought his Uncle Ethan and Aunt Becca were two of the coolest people ever. Uncle Ethan taught him card tricks and Aunt Becca was a nurse like his mom.

Rebecca put him down and he, predictably, hung close to her throughout the rest of the conversation.

After just a few more minutes Nikolas clapped his hands together and said, "Ok, guys, time to go home. Tina and Danielle will be over to play soon."

All three boys cheered, and Cameron and Spencer ran to push the button on the elevator. Jake, however, noticed Jason standing nearby and stopped cold before turning and using Rebecca as a human shield. Liz bent down and swept him into her arms to try and soothe him. She glared at Jason as she did so.

"Hey buddy," Nik said as he rubbed Jake's back. "we gotta go show Dannie all the cool new stuff in your room, remember?" He motioned to Glen who nodded. He crowded into them, effectively blocking any view that Jake could have of Jason and then gave a signal to the other two guards, who grabbed Jason and hustled him around a corner. Glen then stepped back and they all continued on as if nothing had happened. Jake nodded. His uncle Nik had redecorated the rooms that he and Cameron lived in so that they would be just the way they wanted them.

"Well, we better hurry then." Nik said and extended his arms to his nephew. Jake released his mother and let his uncle pull him into his arms. The elevator door opened and they all got on with Glen, waving to Liz and Rebecca as they went.

Liz turned and stalked around the corner just as Monica did the same.

"Get your hands off my son! How dare you! Let him go, or I'm calling the police."

The two guards just stood there impassively until Liz said. "You guys should go. Nikolas and the children are riding down in the elevator with Glen. Jimmy is downstairs in the garage. He'll stay with them until you get there.

A nod and a polite "thank you Miss Webber" later they were gone.

Elizabeth turned to where Jason and Monica were standing, looking at her with angry eyes.

"What? Traumatizing Jake once wasn't enough for you?"

Jason looked ashamed. "I didn't know –"

"Now you do." Liz cut in, not needing to hear his excuses. "That little encounter will take weeks of therapy to deal with. And Monica?" she turned to the surgeon, "I have to guess that you are unaware of the restraining order in place against your son, since you called him to a place that you knew the object of the order would be. So, let me clarify. Jason Morgan is forbidden from being within 300 yards of Rebecca Lovett or her home, for the next 6 months, unless there is cause to have the order extended. I suggest you meet with him outside the hospital from now on, unless he's in need of emergency care."

Liz kept her tone with Monica casual, unlike the acid tone she used on Jason. Monica, however, felt no need to be at all polite.

"Why are you doing this? Why are you keeping Jason from his son? He should be able to spend time with Jake. Hell, he should know where his child is living!"

Liz held fast to her calm demeanor. "My children and I are living at Wyndemere, with their uncle and cousin. He, very kindly, offered to help with Jake's therapy and I accepted. Both of the boys are very happy there, and get to see their friends as much as they want. Jason hasn't seen Jake, because he has been seeing Kevin Collins extensively since his father was murdered in front of him, and we have been protecting him from running into the person who did it. If Jason can visit with Jake without him ever coming into any contact with Lucky's murderer, then he's more than welcome to see him from time to time."

Liz smiled hatefully at Jason before she turned and resumed her work.

* * *

As it turned out, Jake wasn't nearly as traumatized by his run in with Jason as either Nikolas or Elizabeth expected. He was apparently happy, as long as Jason wasn't near him or his mom. Thus, with a phone call to Liz's cell confirming that Jason wasn't there, he was pretty much back to normal before the launch had even pulled up to get them from the docks.

Nik breathed a sigh of relief when he ran up to the play room and started building a castle with Legos, as if nothing has happened.

After the big lunch at Kelly's, and then an exciting visit with Tina, Danielle and Kevin, all three kids were more than ready for naps that afternoon. This worked well for Nikolas since he had some work that he had pushed back for lunch, and he wanted to get it out of the way before Liz got home.

Liz got home. Three words that made Nikolas' heart flutter just a little bit. He felt about ten times lighter that day than he had felt in 2 years. Yesterday he had opened that little room in his mind where he had trapped all of that love and attraction that he felt for Elizabeth back when Lucky was gone, and again when he was trying to convince himself he loved Rebecca. Now all he had to do was convince Liz that it was real, and that it would last.

* * *

Elizabeth was surprised by her good mood as she walked into the castle. Yes, the call from Nikolas telling her that Jake was just fine and Kevin had been happy with his session had been a boost, but that didn't account for the almost giddy feeling she had been having ever since her shift had ended.

When she opened the door and entered the living room she smiled at Nikolas, who was on the phone doing business in Greek. She kept watching him as she sat down on the couch and pulled her feet up under her.

The giddy feeling got stronger and she knew where it was coming from. She was happy because of Nikolas. She was really surprised by that.

She had never seriously considered a relationship with Nik. Sure, she was attracted to him, but she hadn't allowed herself to think of it as anything more than that. She knew that, at one time, he had had much stronger feelings for her, but even then she hadn't given the idea too much thought. He was Lucky's brother, and he had been hurting just as much as she had. She just always thought that his feelings were based on wanting to hold on to someone more than anything else.

Of course the situation was similar, they had both lost Lucky all over again, but she felt that his feelings were real, and she realized that maybe they had been real then as well. And now… now the loss of Lucky wasn't so visceral. He was a big part of her life, but he hadn't been the center of her world this time, and they hadn't been together either. In fact, she and Nikolas had both been single for nearly 2 years now, it wasn't in any way a rebound for either of them, and that gave her hope for them.

Lucky has been her rebound from Jason, who was her rebound after Lucky, who was her rebound after Ric, who was her rebound after Jason who was her rebound after Lucky. Yes, all of those relationships had been much more complicated than that, and she had genuinely loved Ric and Jason as much as she ever loved Lucky, but this was the first long stretch of time where she hadn't been longing for some broken relationship or pining for a different one. And to her it seemed fitting to be starting fresh with the one person who had been there to see her through all of it.

She really thought that Emily would be pleased about it too.

Liz stood as Nik ended his call and made her way over to him. He was smiling at her and opened his mouth to say something, but she stopped him by walking around his desk and settling herself on his lap. He smiled even wider when she leaned in and kissed him.


	10. Chapter 10

**I raised the rating on this due to this chapter. Be warned, this chapter is basically all smut. You can skip it if you want, nothing integral to the overall story happens here.**

**Part 10**

* * *

Another 2 months passed without any more confrontations with Jason, or about him. It was New Year's Eve before any of the family even saw him again, and that was at the party at the MertoCourt. Well, that wasn't entirely accurate. Michael and Kristina had spent portions of Thanksgiving and Christmas with him, as had Molly, but he hadn't pried about Liz or Jake at all. Carly had read Michael the riot act about his knowledge, and Sam had guilt tripped the girls pretty hard, but none of them really took that seriously, since they had both lied about paternity before, and Carly had moved heaven and earth to keep Michael from AJ.

Michael and Kristina continued to spend any and all of their break time on the Island, which pissed Sonny and Carly off. The kids loved it though. Jake spent hours playing hide and seek all throughout the castle with Michael and Molly. Spencer, Cameron and Kristina had huge snowball fights followed by baking cookies and muffins. Kristina obviously got her culinary gene from her father.

And during all that time, Nikolas and Elizabeth….took their time. They flirted over dinner, and over the kids' heads. They made out in closets like a pair of high school kids, much to Alfred's dismay. They took walks in the snow, and had romantic picnics in the turret room. The only thing they didn't do was have sex, and it was driving them both crazy.

Every time it seemed as if things would escalate, something came along and stopped them. Hell, Kristina and Michael had practically made a game of catching them in compromising positions. There was even a hand drawn map of the castle with the rooms they had been caught in checked off in pink marker. Of course, they weren't telling anyone what was going on, they liked having a nice place to stay for the holidays and the odd weekend.

Luckily the little kids had no clue at all. Liz's mom radar was working overtime when they were wandering the house.

Of course all of this wouldn't have been an issue if they had moved their romantic moments to the bedroom. The chart even had those two rooms circled in red. The problem with that was that neither Liz, nor Nik, was ready to put themselves under quite that much pressure. It wasn't like they were planning to have wild sex on the turret room floor or anything. Sure, if they got to the 'let's take this to the bedroom" point, it would be great, but to start out there was… a bit forced at that point.

That was the reason Nikolas was pacing inside his bedroom door in nothing but his silk sleep pants at 11 o'clock the night before Christmas. He kept picturing Liz's smile, her laugh, her curves… it was making it impossible for him to sleep

Suddenly there was a shriek from Liz's room, and Nik was out the door and standing in her room in a flash. But Liz wasn't in her room. Finally he saw the cracked bathroom door and the light shining out. He hurried over and stuck his head through the door.

"Liz, what's wrong? I heard a scream, are you ok?" He looked around as he spoke and nearly laughed when he saw her.

Liz was standing on the built in vanity table that was set low in the bathroom counter, wearing nothing but a towel.

"Don't you dare laugh." She scolded him with a pout. "There's a spider down there, and you know how much I hate spiders."

And he did know, she had run from the most harmless and tiny spiders many times before. Of course her attire had him struck more dumb than humored. Her hair was pulled up and back by a large claw clip, her skin was damp from where she had just been lounging in the tub, and her towel, while wrapping neatly around her, was barely long enough to cover the curve of her ass when view from his angle. He shook his head slightly and moved his eyes to the floor. Now he did laugh.

The big scary spider she was hiding from was the tiniest little thing he had ever seen, barely the size of the nail on his pinky finger. It took him less than a minute to pick it up and flush it down the toilet. When he looked back at her, she was still standing there, pouting at him.

"It's not funny, really." She said with her arms crossed. Apparently she either didn't realize, or didn't care, what her state of undress was doing to him.

"No. The spider isn't funny." He said with a smirk. "But the fact that you still haven't noticed what you're wearing, and what's at eye level for me right now? That's funny."

Liz looked down and blushed. She hurriedly dropped herself down so that she was now sitting on the vanity instead of standing on it. She was about to jump to the floor when Nikolas crowded into her and held her in place.

"Do you have any idea how sexy you are right now?" he purred into her ear.

Liz broke out in goose bumps all over her body. "Well, I have to say, your outfit doesn't leave much to the imagination either, and I'm not exactly complaining."

It was Nik's turn to blush and shiver. He shifted until he was standing between her parted legs, only the silk of his pants and a corner of terrycloth separating them. Ever so slowly he leaned in and drew her mouth into a fiery kiss.

Liz wrapped her arms around Nik's neck as he trailed his fingers along her bare thighs. She moaned into his mouth as the caresses moved higher and higher up and under the towel. She arched her back and he moved his lips to kiss down her neck and across her collar bone. His hands danced along her skin, one hand moving to her center, the other skimming its way up her taught stomach. Her towel came loose and fell from her writhing body as he reached her breasts with both his hand and his mouth.

Her fists were clenched in his hair as she made incoherent noises, her head leaning back into the mirror.

In short order Nikolas was on his knees on the cold marble floor, her legs draped over his shoulders, lapping at her warmth greedily. His hands massaged her ass as he worked, the sound of her deep moans spurring him on.

As she came, she slammed her head back so hard she saw stars. Her hands and forearms were straining to hold her weight on the countertop. She screamed his name in a way that nearly sent him over the edge himself.

As she slowly came down from her high he kissed his way lightly back up to her lips. He groaned as their bodies pressed together, his hardness coming into contact with her warm flesh.

Liz let out a light laugh. She was still breathing hard. "I think… I need… a shower." She pushed him back a bit before she reached down and ran her hands down his hips, taking his pants with them until the fabric was so far down his thighs that it fell to the floor. He stood there, naked and erect, and aching to press forward and into her. She gave him a teasing smile. "Wanna join me?"

He was stunned silent, giving her the opening she needed to shove him back with one hand, grab her towel with the other and climb down from the vanity. She giggled as she pulled him behind her to the glass enclosed shower stall. He had barely kept his footing, getting slightly snagged in his discarded pants.

Liz flicked on the water and pushed Nik into the cool spray. He pulled her with him and kissed her. They stayed there, kissing unter the warming water for what seemed like hours. Their hands touched, pinched, caressed and teased at each other. Eventually Liz's hands found their way to Nik's cock. He closed his eyes and groaned as she pumped him gently. After a minute he had to move back against the shower wall just to stay upright. She knelt down and took him into her mouth with the same relish he has shown her earlier. She got him almost there… before she pulled herself away and grabbed a bottle from the tiled niche in the wall. She was teasing him, and he liked it.

Elizabeth lathered her hands and directed Nikolas to sit down on the tiled bench at the back of the shower. It was just outside the direct spray of the waterfall showerhead. Nik raised an eyebrow, but did as he was told. Liz sat sideways on his lap and reached back to run her hands through his wet hair. She thought for a minute and then moved to sit behind him on the oversized bench. She washed his hair and massaged his scalp for a long few minutes before making him get up and rinse out his hair. She sat and watched him as he stood under the shower, his body still tense from need and his cock still semi erect. She was lost in thoughts of how exactly to use that when he caught her off guard in a kiss.

He manovered her legs around his waist and picked her up by her ass as he continued kissing her roughly. He turned and sat on the bench again, so that now she was kissing him and straddling his lap. They kept the kisses going, hot, needy kisses. He moved his hands and began to caress her nipples with his thumbs, then he moved one hand down to touch her and set her off again, but she pulled out of a kiss and moved his hands away. She quickly adjusted and pulled his once again erect cock into her for the very first time.

They both sighed in almost relief.

His hands went to her hips and began to assist her in moving up and down in the somewhat awkward position. After a few minutes he turned and laid himself out flat on the bench and she was able to continue on her own, setting a demanding rhythm.

He almost embarrassed himself by coming before she did. Thankfully he was able to coax her into an orgasm before he went sailing over the edge. She lay on his chest for a few minutes, gathering her witts and catching her breath before she said the first words between thim since they entered the shower.

"Wow. The water is still hot. That's impressive."

She felt stupid for saying it, but she really was extremely impressed by the water heater. It had been at least an hour, judging by the old clock hanging on the wall across the room, and the water was just as hot as when they got in.

Nikolas just laughed.

* * *

When they finally managed to wash and drag themselves out of the shower they crawled into Elizabeth's bed and snuggled close together. They had dried their hair and dressed, him back in his sleep pants and her in a cami and jammie pants of her own. He had brushed out her hair and put it up in a ponytail at the nape of her neck. And all the while they talked.

They talked about the kids, and how distant he had made himself from Spencer. They talked about their families, revealing little things that hadn't ever come up in conversation before, like how they spent Christmas as kids, or the reason Elizabeth couldn't stand the sight of split pea soup. They talked about Lucky, and the movies that they had seen recently, and their favorite books. Little things that made them who they were and bigger things that shaped their world.

They were just together. The tension was gone and they could relax. That big hurdle that they had been anticipating and dreading for more than a month was behind them. Of course they were still drawn to each other. They still had that spark, and that desire to be together, to make love and hold each other, but they weren't nervous anymore.

Eventually they fell asleep, her head on his chest, his hand on her back. That didn't last long though. Three little boys were anxious to start their Christmas morning.

Cameron was the first to bust through the door. "Mommy, it's Christmas, wa-" he stopped in his tracks and stared, "Hi Uncle Nik. What are you doing in here with mommy?"

Nikolas smiled at him and patted the bed next to him. Cam jumped up and sat where he had patted. Nik put his finger over his lips, indicating to be quiet, and pointed to the still sleeping Liz. Cam nodded and whispered, "Did you have a sleepover, like Michael and Krissy do sometimes?"

Nikolas raised an eyebrow at that, but decided to ignore the innocent insinuation. "Yeah, sort of." He whispered back, "We were telling stories, and we fell asleep. Why don't you go get Spence and Jake and we can wake up your mommy together."

Cam nodded enthusiastically and jumped down from the bed to run down the hall to the other kids' bedrooms.

"Whatever you're planning, I'm not amused." Came the sleepy, muffled, voice of Elizabeth from where her head rested on his chest.

Nik smiled and ran his hand through her hair. "Just giving us time to brace ourselves. Spencer is enough of a handful on holidays, all three of them together… "

"Ok, I like that plan." She lifted her head and pulled out the scrunchie that held her hair back. She ran her hands through her hair, to loosen it, and tried to wake herself up a bit before the kids got back. When she heard giggling coming down the hall she laid herself back down and closed her eyes in feigned sleep.

The boys came in the door as quietly as a group of excited little boys on Christmas morning really could. Nik motioned them over to the bed and whispered. "Ok, on three, pounce. Ready?"

The boys nodded and Jake covered his mouth to stifle a giggle. "One, two…..three!" and the kids jumped up on the bed and started bouncing all over Liz. She pretended to wake up and grabbed Spencer by the legs and pulled him in to tickle him.

"What's so important that you guys had to wake me up?" she said with an exaggerated pout.

He laughed as she tickled his belly. "It's Christmas Aunt Liz."

She stopped. "Oh, Christmas? Well, where are my presents?"

Jake laughed. "Under the tree mommy!"

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go get some presents."


End file.
